Joseph c



,i @nimh tats @stent @fitta IMPROVEMENT IN IENGES.

tln tlptnle-nfernl tu in tigen @tetten glutmt mit making, met nf tlgetante.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: A

Be it known that I, JOSEPH C. LEONARD', of Union City, Branch county,State of Michigan, have invented a new and improved Method of Buildingand Supporting Fences; and I do declare that the following is a. fulland exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, and the letters marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in building and supporting fence bya. wire or rod of iron galvanized, or other suitable material raisedfrom the ground a sufficient height, and supporting stakes or postsplaced on either side of it suihciently apart to form a hase for thefence, and fastened to the wire by slots sawed into them to receive thewire, and bound together and to the wire support by-a tie or riderplaced between the stakes or posts directly above the Wire, with loopsor bands of wire placed across the stakes `below the wire support tokeep them from spreading, or by placing poles or rails along the foot ofthe stakes when not secured in the ground; also braces placed under thesupport, and laterally with it, and secured'to it by a slot sawed intothe upper end. In the drawings accompanying this description of myimprovement- Figure 1 represents ai'ence wholly made of stakes orposts,which may be sawed, split, or round.

Figure 2 is astake brace and rider fence built more open and requiringless material.

' Figure 3 is a post and board fence of sawed materials. i 4

All of these different forms of fence are built with my improvement ofsupport, tie, brace, and rider.

In order to enable others acquaintedwith building fences to more fullyunderstand my improvement and its application, I will proceed to`explain the method of building fence after my improved plan, which Iclaim to have discovered.

Providing myself` with a wire, galvanized, or otherwise of a `suitablesize and strength for the kind of fence I propose to build, in order toconstruct the kind shown in iig. 1, I attach it to a post and extend italong the liuc on which the fence is to stand, and secure it to anotherpost at any given distance, and if I propose to secure the end ofthestakes in the ground, I dig atrench some six inches deep on each side ofthe wire where I propose to place the foot of the stakes. Havingprepared the stakes with a. slot in each, of a suitable size to receivethe wire, as shown at a, fig. 4, I place them alternately on either sideof the wire, inclining towards it, and passing Aeach other above thewire, and having their feet standing in the trenches on either side, andthe wirepassing through the slot of each. Having pla-ced a suiicientnumber to admit of a tie or rider, I place one Abetween the stakes abovethe Wire at b, g.'1, and press it down iirmly so as tb securely fastenthe stakes to the wire and hold them in their` place, and so proceeduntil my fence is completed. To build fence Nb. 2, I

proceed to put up vthe stakes c e c c, and fasten them together on thewire with the braces e c e e, and rider b substantially as in the rstinstance in fig. 1. To build fence No. 3, having extended the wire as inthe rst instance, I fasten the posts as'often as required by the lengthof the boards used, and having nailed a board between the posts abovethe wire at b b, as a binder to hold them together, and placed loops ofwire on the bottom of the post to keep them from spreading, I proceed tonail on the boards and complete the fence.

I do not claim a stake and rail fence or post and board fence, asdescribed above as my invention, as such, and now in use, only so far assupporting and holding them in4 place is new, and now first applied tobuilding such fences; nor do I claim broadly the use of a horizontalwireor rod for suppor'ting the. pickets or stakes of a fence, norforming 4an inclined slot in the pickets or stakes to receive the wire;but having fully described my invention, what I claim as new in theconstruction of my improved fencing, and desire to secure by Letters Thecombination of inclined stakes or pickets with a horizontal supportingwire or rod, when said stakes V are slotted or kei-fed to receive thewire, and are prevented from spreading apart at their base, allsubstantially as herein described and illustrated.

JOSEPH' C. LEONARD.

Witnesses:

C. -VAN Ness,

C. P. BENTON.

